Researchers have devised an encryption scheme that could simplify the protection of sensitive information by allowing banks, hospitals and other organizations to lock files using keys that are based on specific attributes, such as an employee's position or geographic location.

We're delighted to announce that Google has, after several years of nagging, finally got its act together and acknowledged the patron saint of hoodies, speed cameras, overvalued property, and binge drinking.

Web, web and more web is the latest message from Sony Ericsson. The handset manufacturer has launched two HSDPA 3G handsets with the simple aim of getting more customers hooked on compulsive on-the-fly email checking.

The dog and pony show over whether the BBC should contribute to distribution costs for iPlayer rolled into Westminster yesterday, with Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards telling MPs he doesn't believe forcing Auntie to cough up for a fibre network is the best plan.

A Reaper unmanned combat aircraft has crashed in Afghanistan. According to reports, restricted technology aboard the wrecked roboplane was salvaged by British special forces and the remains were then destroyed by a bomb from a manned jet.

ReviewTake a look at the specifications of the new Samsung M110 and you could be forgiven for thinking that you were looking at the details for a handset made a decade ago rather than something fresh off the drawing board.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ordered online gambling outfit Paddy Power "not to repeat" the approach it adopted in a newspaper ad which showed a "short man" in the back of stretch limo flanked by women under the title "Who says you can't make money being short?"

VCs have spunked $1.5bn on useless Web 2.0 companies in recent years. And millions more in capital will be wasted in deals at Tim 2.0'Reilly's webfest over the next few days. So why can't one of the most promising start-ups, that potentially brings the web to over a billion new surfers, get funding?

It looks like Al Gore is going to need every cent of the $300m war chest he's amassed for climate persuasion. Americans polled by Gallup for 'Earth Day' value "traditional", bottom-up environmental issues such as pollution and conservation as being more worrying than Global Warming. Remarkably, the level of concern about greenhouse gas emissions has barely wavered in a generation. Recklessness, or Huck Finn-style American common sense?

A judge has demanded a Darth Vader impersonator be dragged before him after he succumbed to the Dark Side, attacked two Jedi with a metal crutch, and failed to show up for the resulting court appearance on an assault rap.

The US Navy has made a long-awaited decision and awarded a billion-dollar development contract for the autonomous spyplane which it will use for ocean surveillance in future. The so-called BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance) craft will be developed by Northrop Grumman using its existing, small-airliner-sized Global Hawk roboplane.

Security guru Bruce Schneier has renewed his attack on the IT security industry. A record number of attendees is visiting this week's Infosecurity trade show in London but nobody is buying anything, according to Schneier.

Less than 2 years after paying more than £100 million for Cambridge-based TTPCom Motorola is shutting down the offices and consulting with employees about their futures, the company confirmed in a statement.

CommentSo, here's the deal. If Steve Jobs can actually turn the acquisition of chip start-up PA Semi into a fruitful mobile endeavor, then he's an even more fantastic genius than the world has guessed to date. Because this deal seems to make almost no sense at first blush if you swallow the souped-up iPhone line.

AnalysisWe have very little idea of how a hysteria can grip sensible, rational people - until it strikes. After Orson Welles's War Of The Worlds radio broadcast, the public reported sightings of Martians. According to urban legend, a farmer's water tower was peppered with small arms fire, in the belief that it was a Martian spaceship. During the McCarthyite Red Scare, the FBI's snitch lines rang red hot with reports of suspected un-American activity. And in Hartlepool 200 years ago, the locals tried and hanged a monkey, suspecting it to be a Frenchman.

Stripped-down operating systems made specifically for virtual machine appliances have tickled the fancy of the Linux collective, and these types of systems are keeping commercial distributors busy pushing out their versions of the concept.

Dell is shutting down a call centre in Ottawa, with the loss of 1,100 jobs. The company told CBC news today that it has already issued 500 lay-off notices, and the rest of the jobs are to go in June. It is keeping on 100 sales support employees at the Ottawa site.